Rope drum for needle looms



w. w. ROBERTSON Filed May 17, 193'? Inventor WuIHam W. Roberrson 41. WW

iii

'btorney Dec. 27, 19,38;

ROPE DRUM FOR NEEDLE LOOMS' Patented Dec. 27, 1938 UNITED STATES PTEN'EQFFIQ'E 2,141,670 ROPE DRUM FOR NEEDLE LooMs setts Application May 17,1937, Serial No. 142,967

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in rope drums for needle loomsand it is the general object of the invention to provide a drum with animproved wearing surface. In wide needle looms such as those on whichAxininster fabrics are Woven it is customary to operate the needle bymeans of a rope attached to a needle carrier and having the ends thereoffastened to a rotatable drum. In order to operate such looms at highspeed it is necessary to reduce the weight of moving parts and so far asthe drum is concerned this has been accomplished in the past by makingthe same of a light metal, such as aluminum. These lighter metals aresubject to wear because of the constant wrapping. and unwrapping actionof the rope and I have proposed heretofore to wrap a wear resisting bandaround the periphery of the drum to keep the latter out of contact withthe rope. A drum made in this way has been found in practice to operatesatisfactorily with very little wear when made according to my priorPatent No. 2,065,746.

The band as shown in that patent has two perforations through which theends of the rope extend and I find an occasional tendency for the bandto rupture at the perforations. It is an important object of my presentinvention to V alter the band and drum so that the ends of 30- the ropemay pass through the drum at points between the ends of the band. Bythis construction the band is not perforated and is therefore strongerand can be relied upon to give better operating results.

In carrying one form of my invention into effect I provide the peripheryof the drum with two recesses separated by a small area through whichthe ends of the rope pass. The ends of the band are held in the recessesby blocks which may be securely fastened to the drum to clamp the bandtightly in place. By this construction the band can be of uniform anduninterrupted surface throughout its rope engaging area, therebyinsuring greater life and at the same time presenting only smoothsurfaces to the rope so that the latter is not subjected to a cuttingaction as the drum rotates.

In my prior patent the band ends were held together under a singleretaining block so that at least one end was not clamped directlyagainst the'rim of the drum and one end did not engage the block. It isa further object of my invention to provide a separate block for eachend of the band to enable each end to engage the drum and a block, thusproviding better holding conditions for the band by a construction whichprovides a stronger band,

With these and other objects in View which will appear as thedescription proceeds, my invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts hereinafter described and set forth.

In the accompanying drawing wherein a con venient embodiment of myinvention is set forth,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a needle motion which in the presentinstance is located at the right of the loom, I

Fig. 2 is a detailed vertical section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on line 33 of Fig. 2 on an enlarged scale,

Fig. 4 is a view similar to the upper part of Fig. 3 but on an enlargedscale, and

Figs. 5 and 6 are detailed radial sections on lines 5--5 and 66,respectively, of Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawing, the loom is presumed to be at the left of Fig.1 and operates with warp sheds not shown into which is projected a weftcarrying needle ID. The latter is mounted on a carriage l I movablealong a needle rail l2 supported by the end frame 13. The carriage isconnected to a cable or rope l4 extending around right and left guidesheaves l5 and 16, respectively, mounted for rotation on the end frame.The drum H to which the cable is attached in a manner to be set forthhereinafter is secured to a shaft I8 to which is. fastened a pinion l9meshing with a segment rack 20. The latter is pivoted as at 2! andreceives motion through a link 22 driven by a crank arm 23. The latteris mounted on a shaft 24 which is turned by any approved mechanismoperating either continuously or intermittently, as desired.

In the operation of the matter thus far described rotation of shaft 24reciprocates the segment rack to turn the drum in opposite directions toinsert the needle into and withdraw it from the warp sheds in well knownmanner. The matter thus far described operates as mual and of itselfforms no part of my present invention.

In carrying my present invention into effect I make the drum ll of somelight material, such as aluminum, so that it may be rotated at a highrate of speed. The drum has a web 30 and two spaced flanges 3| and 32,respectively, which extend outwardly from a rim 33. The ends of thecable l4 are wrapped on the rim between the flanges as suggested in Fig.5 and rotation of the drum winds up one end of the rope as the other endis unwound. In this way the rope is kept substantially taut with aminimum of slackness.

The rim 33 is formed in the present instance with two similar spacedrecesses 34 and'35 located, respectively, at the right and left of Fig.4. The adjacent ends of these recesses are formed with acutely roundedwalls 36 while the opposite ends of the recesses may be more graduallyinclined, as at 31. That part of the rim forming the bottom of eachrecess has passing therethrough a pair of bolt holes '30 in which arebolts ll. Located in each recess is a retaining block 52 having holes 43for the bolts 4| and each block will have at least one edge formed witha curved surface 44 similar to that of wall 36. I do not wish to belimited to this particular method set forth herein for fastening theblocks to the rim.

In order to provide a wear resisting surface for the rim I provide asteel band 45 extending as viewed in Fig. 3 from the right hand recess34 around the drum in a right hand direction to the left recess 35. Theends of the band extend,

under the blocks which are clamped down tightly on the band by the boltswhich extend through holes 46 in the band ends. The bolts and blocksrequire the band ends to conform to the shape of the recesses and holdthe extreme ends of the band between the acutely curved surfaces 36 and44.

By referring particularly 'to Figs. 3' and 4 it will be seen that therecesses 34 and 35 are separated by a comparatively short peripheralzone5d the outer surface of which is concentric with the axis of the drumand across which the band does not extend. This zone has twoperforations5| and 52 located, respectively, near the rims 3i and 32, as shown inFig. 5. One end 53 of the rope extends through the perforation 5! andmay be knotted as at 54, while the otherend 55 of the rope extendsthrough the perforation 52 and may be knotted as at 56. The knots aretied tightly against the inner part of the rim to hold the cable or ropetaut.

As viewed in Fig. 4 it will be seen that one end of the rope extendsfrom its perforation to the right over the block 42 in recess 34 andengages 'thewear band 45 along a gradual curve 60, while length and isnot weakened by perforations. Should it bedesired to replace the band,the bolts 4| can be removed and the blocks taken from their recesses torelease the band ends, and after the old band is replaced by a new one,the blocks and bolts will be tightened as already described. Since thereis but one thickness of band under each block the latter eifectivelyholds the corresponding end of the band tightly against the rim. To thisextent a band may be held more securely to the drum than in my aforesaidpatent not only because of the use of two blocks instead of one, butalso because of the fact that there is no opportunity for one'end of theband to slide or slip on the other end.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a needleoperating drum with a wear resisting band or the like held to the drumin such a way that the rope or cable may be fastened to the drum withoutpassing through the band. This result Ipaccomplish by causing the endsof the band to terminate a short distance apart to define betweenthe'ends a peripheral zone through which the rope ends pass. It willfurther be seen that eachend. of the band has 'its own clamping blockand is forced by it directly against the rim 33. It will also be seenthat the acutely curved surfaces 36 and M assist in holding the bandends securely in position, since they cause a deformation in the ends ofthe bands which act to establish a tight holding relation with the rimof the drum.

Having thus described my invention it will be seen that changesandmodifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not wishto be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is:

In, a rope drum for'a loom, a rim forming part of the drum and havingspaced recesses therein between which extends a rope attaching Zone, awear resisting sheet metal band having each end thereof terminating inone of the recesses, said band having a smooth uninterrupted ropeengaging-surface extending from one recess around the rim to the otherrecess, a clamping block in each recess to secure the corresponding endof the band to the rim, the band extending from each end thereof aroundthe rim in a direction away from the ropeattaching zone and the latterhaving openings therethrough to receive the ends of a rope wound on thedrum.

WILLIAM W. ROBERTSON.

